The Steel Ministry could mandate the country’s steel producers to mark a part of their production towards green steel. Sources said, a proposal in this regard is under discussion at the moment.
India is currently the second largest crude steel producer in the world, after China. Production capacities across steel plants in the country are pegged at 160 million tonnes (mt) and there are plans to near double it to 300 mt.
Ministry data show for April-July 2023, domestic finished steel production stood at 43.6 mt (up by 12.6 per cent YoY) and domestic consumption was at 41.2 mt (up by 12 per cent YoY). Crude steel production stood at 45.8 mt, up 12 per cent YoY. Overall PSU production reported a growth of 10.6 per cent; and private sector players reported a growth of 11.7 per cent during the first four months of the fiscal.
“There are some discussions around mandating steel producers to dedicate a part of their resource towards green steel-making. But nothing is on paper till now,” a ministry source, told businessline.
Some of the immediate roadblocks include availability of alternatives like scrap (against traditional raw materials), availability of gas in select regions of the country (like East), and so on.
Companies, through the Indian Steel Association, have already called for policy intervention from the Centre in a bid to transition towards green steel making.
Green Steel Task Force
In April this year, the Ministry had set up 13 task force for green steel; reports of which are expected soon, sources. The task forces are divided according to four “mission components”.
The components included defining green steel and developing benchmarks, certification and monitoring of carbon emissions from steel plants; the second being having a policy framework for creating demand for green steel across key end-use sectors.
The third focus included having a supply-side push that includes improving energy efficiency, transitioning to renewable energy, increased usage of beneficiation, pellets and scrap, determining requirements of green hydrogen up to 2030, adoption of carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) and exploring interim transition pathways to green steel in direct reduced iron (DRI) making.
The last component focuses on research and development, exploring innovative financing mechanisms, identifying measures taken across the world for green steel production and exploring possible collaborations and skill development.
India aims to be carbon neutral by 2070. The country has set a target to cut total carbon emissions by 30 – 35 per cent ‘below 2005 levels’, by 2030.
The average carbon emission intensity of the Indian steel industry reduced from around 3.1 t/tonne of crude steel (T/tcs) in 2005 to around 2.55 T/tcs at presen.t
Push at a company level
Incidentally, some of the major integrate steel plants are already focussing on alternative. For instance, Tata Steel has carried out trials with hydrogen injection in blast furnace and Kalyani Steel is utilising solar power in their electric arc furnace.
Tata Steel, JSPL and JSW have also installed CO2 (carbon di oxide) capture plants; and a green hydrogen plant is underway (for trials) at JSW too.
The ONGC has signed MoU with IOCL for capturing of CO2 from the company’s Koyali refinery and its utilization in two reservoirs of Gandhar field for CO2 sequestration.
JSW Steel said renewable energy to the tune of 1,000 MW is under construction. “Of this 225MW is now on in Vijayanagar, and the company will continue to look at additional renewable energies for all our locations by 2030. Our intent is to bring the thermal coal usage to as close to zero as possible,” Jayant Acharya, Joint MD and CEO, JSW Steel, said during an earnings call.